MT. JULIET, Tenn. (AP) — A new report shows Tennessee students are leading the nation in academic growth.

Commonly known as "the nation's report card," the National Assessment of Educational Progress assesses students in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math. The report released Thursday shows Tennessee students had the largest growth of any state from 2011-2013, with a 22-point growth across all subject areas. The next closest state in growth was Indiana with 15.

For fourth-grade students, Tennessee went from 46th to 37th in math and from 41st to 31st in reading.

State officials say the improvement is partially due to education reforms over the last few years including a tougher teacher evaluation process.